DUBLIN NATUEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. 107 



INftUIEIES INTO THE CAUSES OE THE PRESENT DECAY OF THE DUBLIN 

 CRAB AND LOBSTER FISHERIES ; WITH A FEW SUGGESTIONS AS TO THE 

 PRACTICABILITY OP AMENDMENT OP THEM AND THE MARKET SUPPLY, 

 EITHER BY SUBSTITUTION OF SPECIES OR OTHERWISE. BY J. R. KINAHAN, 

 M. D.,F. L, S., M.R. I. A. 



[Read February 7, 1862.] 



"When we consider that the capture of the animals which are the subject 

 of this communication is, even at the present day, the principal means 

 of support during several months of the year to numerous families in the 

 sea-side hamlets, apology for bringing this subject before the members 

 of the Society would be superfluous. In a Society where so often even- 

 ing after evening has been profitably spent discussing, from a scientific 

 point of view, questions of economic value to the country, the subject 

 of the modes of capture adopted, the present and past conditions of these 

 fisheries, the species at present captured, and those which, though abun- 

 dant, are at present overlooked, ought neither to be considered out of 

 place nor omitted. 



On a comparison of the numbers of species of Crustacea which are 

 exposed for sale in the markets of Paris, London, and Dublin, it must 

 be confessed that Dublin folk, as consumers of these dainties, stand 

 the lowest in the scale. With the exception of three, or perhaps I may 

 say four Crustacea, the Dublin gastronomical tastes seem to favour the 

 consumption of true shellfish — such as oysters and cockles — much more 

 than of Crustacea ; and this does not arise from any scarcity of the spe- 

 cies used as food elsewhere ; for, as I hope to show, most of those used 

 in England and France abound on and about the Dublin coasts. When 

 in Paris, some two or three years ago, I examined into the species of 

 Crustacea exposed for sale in the public market, and found the list was 

 a goodly one, including nine species — viz. the common crab, the lobster, 

 the Cray fish, fresh-water cray fish, common shrimp, two species of 

 prawn (Palcemon), the common green crab, and the velvet cleanser crab; 

 and these I was told did not include the entire. In the English markets 

 the list is still larger — twelve in all. This includes the common crab, 

 the lobster, sea cray fish, fresh-water cray fish, the common shrimp, 

 three species of prawns {Palcemon), ^sop prawn, Nika edulis — this, 

 together with the JEsop prawn and the smaller specimens of true prawn, 

 are sold as cup shrimps, — the corwich, and the green crab. IS'ow, com- 

 pare with this the Dublin list, and we find it limited to the following : 

 — Common crab, lobster, sea, and fresh-water cray fishes, common 

 shrimp, which, with the addition of the JSTorway lobster (called prawns 

 in the Dublin markets), make up but six, although we will see most 

 of the other species are found about Dublin, or in localities easily acces- 

 sible for our markets. We will next examine the species in detail. 



1. The common crab {Cancer pagurus) is taken in numbers around 

 our coast ; but of late years the DubHn fisheries have been falling off. 



